FME Shores Up Presales on The Wedding Band

CANNES: The Wedding Band, FremantleMedia Enterprises’ foray into U.S. scripted content, has been presold to Channel 5 in the U.K. and Turner Broadcasting System Latin America ahead of its summer 2012 debut on TBS in the U.S., David Ellender, FME’s global CEO, announced at MIPCOM this morning.

FME began expanding its drama slate two years ago. In that time, "we had 17 projects we sold to 13 cable channels," Ellender noted. The first show to come out of this initiative is The Wedding Band, a 10×1-hour drama about a group of guys who start performing at weddings and other special occasions in order to escape from the stress of their daily loves. It comes from Mike Tollin, one of several U.S. producers that FremantleMedia Enterprises has signed deals with. "We’ve got five great relationships with producers in the U.S. and U.K.," Ellender noted.

Channel 5 picked up the show for broadcast on 5* in the U.K., while Turner will take it across 48 countries in Latin America.

Paul Fagan, head of acquisitions at Channel 5, called the show a "perfect blend of comedy and drama [that] will resonate very well with our audience whilst forming a key part of our 2012 schedule."

Angel Zambrano, VP of content acquisitions and syndication sales at Turner Latin America, added, "Our subscribers will really like this young and funny show."

In other deal news, FME has announced the sale of Seven Network’s Winners & Losers to ITV2 in the U.K. The British broadcaster scooped up both seasons of the Australian drama, about four friends, brought together by a high school reunion, who win the lottery. "Winners & Losers has been a storming success in Australia, attracting fans, smashing ratings and establishing its position as a leading drama," said Justin Hatfield, senior VP of sales for the U.K., Ireland and Scandinavia. "Since FME’s global drama strategy launch two years ago, we have supplied many top international dramas to global audiences, and we are delighted to be working with ITV2 on launching this fantastic series to U.K. viewers."